A listener writes “I grew up in northwestern Illinois, out in the rural stretches, and had one of the strangest experiences of my life while deer hunting with my dad sometime around 2004–2005. It happened less than an hour from where I was raised. Back then my dad was a hardcore deer hunter, and we were always in the stand by 4:00 AM, no exceptions.
On this particular morning, sometime between twilight and sunrise, a rolling fog drifted through the timber. Nothing unusual about that except this fog was blinking. On… off… on… off. Not bright, not dramatic, but unmistakably pulsing. It lasted maybe five minutes. The fog would light up in this dull, muted way, then go dark again. The woods themselves weren’t lighting up just the fog.
We were miles from anything. The only visible light was a farmhouse about three-quarters of a mile away, and that light wasn’t blinking. There was no machinery, no traffic, nothing that could have caused it. And I’ve never seen fog behave like that before or since.
At first I didn’t mention it to my dad. Later that day, around noon when we met up for a lunch break, I finally decided to bring it up. I said, “Hey Dad, did you happen to see…” and he cut me off immediately, “Did you see the fog too?!”
My jaw practically hit the ground. We had both witnessed the exact same thing. We weren’t scared at the time, but looking back, it definitely carries an eerie, unsettled feeling. We’ve talked about it many times in the years since, and neither of us is any closer to an explanation now than we were back then.
I figured I’d share this in case you’ve ever heard of anything similar this strange “blinking fog.” I’d be curious if anyone else has reported something like it or if you have any insights at all.”
I have heard and read about this before, fog that appears to pulse with light is something a number of witnesses have described. In many cases, there are natural explanations:
- Distant lights shining through shifting fog layers
- Heat lightning diffused by heavy moisture
- Aircraft beacons flashing behind low clouds
- Subtle changes in fog density that create a rhythmic brightening effect
When fog moves in rolling, turbulent waves, it can catch and release light in a way that almost seems intentional or alive.
But there are also accounts that lean into the paranormal. In certain cryptid reports, ghost encounters, and high-strangeness stories, people describe fog or mist that:
- Flashes for an instant
- Appears and disappears in steady “beats”
- Glows from within, as if it has its own internal light source
These types of stories turn up in Appalachian folklore, various UFO sightings, and notably ongoing accounts from Skinwalker Ranch.
On The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch, investigators have repeatedly documented brief, pulsing flashes inside low clouds or pockets of fog lights that brighten, fade, or vanish in a pattern, sometimes appearing to blink in sync with the movement of the mist.
The original Sherman-family experiences also include descriptions of strange glowing orbs, lights that “zipped” away and disappeared, and atmospheric anomalies around the property among them, fog that seemed to flare or pulse with light.
History Channel coverage and related articles highlight multiple episodes where the team captures sudden flashes or oddly moving lights often on infrared that appear to brighten or vanish quickly. The show frequently presents these moments as lights interacting with low-lying mist, the mesa’s weather layers, or something not yet understood.
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